The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and relevant links.

Anticrepuscular Rays Panorama

While I was visiting at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, I looked at the sunrise after each night's observing session. On many mornings I saw fine displays of anticrepuscular rays on the horizon opposite of the rising Sun. The high dynamic range panorama shown above was taken on July 6, 2008. It shows these rays much more clearly in a single image composed of 18 individual frames stitched together. It's likely that these rays result from sunlight piercing the mountain summits of the Andes, to the east of the observatory. Of course, the Sun's rays are virtually parallel, but perspective makes them seem to converge at the horizon -- the antisolar point in this case.